Treatment of hyperandrogenic disorders

Abstract

A method of treating hyperandrogenism in warm-blooded animals comprising administering to warm-blooded animals an antiandro genically effective amount of oenotheine B and a process for the preparation of oenotheine B.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of inhibiting 5α-reductase in warm-blooded animals comprising administering to warm-blooded animals in need thereof an effective amount of oenotheine B to inhibit 5α-reductase. 
     
     
       2. A process for the preparation of oenotheine B comprising extracting dried samples of Epilobium parviflorum with water or a mixture of water and water-miscible solvents, filtering the extract, optionally concentrating the extract by evaporation of the water-miscible solvents under reduced pressure, subjecting the resulting aqueous phase to a lyophilization or extracting the aqueous phase with a polar solvent and evaporating the extract to dryness to obtain a dry residue and purifying the lyophilizate or dry residue by reversed-phase HPLC or a polymer gel column to obtain oenothoine B. 
     
     
       3. The process of claim 2 wherein the first extraction is effected with an acetone-water mixture.